List of Dukes of Osuna

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The fortunes of the town of Osuna’s started to rise in the mid-15th century. At that time Osuna was lorded over by Alfonso Tellez-Giron, 1st Count of Ureña. The dynasty’s influence increased, and in 1562 King Philip II of Spain granted the 5th Count of Ureña the title of Duke of Osuna. Osuna became the Andalusian capital of the domains of the Téllez-Girón family, who carried the ducal title.

Some of the most famous members of the House of Osuna were Don Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna, who was a general and viceroy of Naples. He became known in history as "Great Duke of Osuna".

Another famous member was Don Pedro de Álcantara Téllez-Girón, 9th Duke of Osuna and his wife Doña María Josefa de la Soledad, 9th Duchess of Osuna, who were some of the biggest patrons to the painter Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes.

[edit] List of Dukes and Duchesses of Osuna since 1562

The 9th Duke, (1755 - 1807), and Duchess of Osuna, (circa 1754 - 1834), with their children, circa 1790, portrait by Goya
The 9th Duke, (1755 - 1807), and Duchess of Osuna, (circa 1754 - 1834), with their children, circa 1790, portrait by Goya
  • Don Pedro Téllez-Girón y de la Cueva, (Osuna, Sevilla, 29 July 1537 - 1590), 1st Duke of Osuna, title given in 1562 by King Philip II of Spain, Viceroy of Naples, (1582-1586), Ambassador in Portugal, 5th Count of Ureña . It was stated in 1562 that his first male descendent will be born with the title of 1st Marquis of Peñafiel.

His father was the 4th Count of Ureña, Juan Téllez-Girón y Fernández de Velasco , (circa 1494 - 1558), whose sister , Isabel, got married to Beltran de la Cueva y Alvarez de Toledo, (??? - 11 February 1559 or 1560), 3rd Duke of Albuquerque, while the mother of Juan and Isabel, named Maria de la Cueva y Alvarez de Toledo, was the daughter of Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva y Mendoza and Francisca Alvarez de Toledo . His two sisters, were called Magdalena and Maria, marrying also other high Spanish nobility people.

    • married Leonor Ana Pérez de Guzman y Aragon, (Sanlucar, Cadiz, circa 1540 - married around 1558 - 23 November 1573). She was associated since then to the actual "Reserve of the BioSphere", known as Coto de Doñana.

One of his daughters, María, (Moron de la Frontera, 1553 - 1608) married on 18 March 1570, Juan Fernandez de Velasco, (circa 1560 - Madrid, 15 March 1613), 5th Duke of Frías, Count of Haro, and their daughter, known as Ana Fernandez de Velasco y Téllez-Girón married on 17th June 1603, the 7th Duke of Bragança, Portugal, Teodosio II of Bragança, (Villa Vicosa, Evora, Portugal, 28 February 1568 - Villa Vicosa, Evora, 29 November 1630).

The outcome of this marriage between the Spanish Ana Fernández de Velasco y Téllez-Girón and the Portuguese Duke Teodosio II of Bragança was that they were the parents of the new King John IV of Portugal "The Restorer", (Vila Vicosa, 18th March 1604 - King of Independent Portugal 1640 - Lisboa, 6 November 1656).

It is reported that being already a Duke, he got an illegitimate son, known as Gabriel Téllez, becoming an active Member and Traveling Visitor of the Religious Orden de la Merced, and being known today as famous Spanish theatrical author Tirso de Molina, (1584 - Soria, 12 March 1648).

The Dukedom was however inherited by:

  • Don Juan Téllez-Girón de Guzman,1st Marquis of Peñafiel since his birth, 2nd Duke of Osuna since 1590, (1559 - 1600).
    • married to Doña Ana Maria de Velasco, 2nd Duchess Consort of Osuna.
  • Don Pedro Téllez-Girón y de Velasco, (Osuna, 17 de diciembre de 1574[1] - Barajas, 24 de septiembre de 1624, while in prison), 3rd Duke of Osuna since 1600, with Grandee of Spain also since 1600, (1574 - 1624). Viceroy of Sicily, (1611 - 1616), Viceroy of Naples, (1616 - 1620). 2nd Marquis of Peñafiel and 7º Count of Ureña.
    • married Catalina Enríquez de Ribera, daughter of the Duke of Alcalá de los Gazules.
  • Don Juan Téllez-Girón y Enriquez de Ribera, 4th Duke de Osuna since 1624, 3rd Marquis of Peñafiel and 8º Count of Ureña since 1624, (1597 - 1656).
    • married in 1617 Doña Isabel de Sandoval y Manrique de Lara, 4th Duchess of Osuna, ( ???- marries 1617 - 1658) née 11th Marquesa de Fromista.
  • Don Gaspar Téllez-Girón y Sandoval, 5th Duke of Osuna since 1656, Grandee of Spain, 4º Marquis of Peñafiel, 9º Count of Ureña, also since 1656, Viceroy of Cataluña, (1667 - 1669), Caballerizo Mayor de la Reina, (25 May 1625 - Madrid, 2 June 1694), who married twice:
    • married first in 1645 Felice de Sandoval Rojas,(???? - marries 1645 - before 1672) getting Isabel María Téllez-Girón y de Sandoval (August 1653 - marries July 1677 - 1711), 4th Duchess of Uceda.
    • married in 1672, Ana Antonia de Benavides Carrillo y Toledo, (??? - marries 1672 - 1707), 6th Marchioness of Fromista, daughter ofLuis de Benavides Carrillo, Marquis of Caracena, (Valencia, 1608 - Madrid, 1668), 5th marquis of Fromista, 3rd Marquis of Caracena, governor of Milan (1648 - 1656), and governor of Flanders, (1659 - 1664), with 2 male issues, the 6th Duke Francisco María de Paula Téllez Girón y Benavides, (without issue), and the 7th Duke Francisco Maria de Paula.

He was Viceroy of Cataluña and governor of Milanesado.

  • Don Francisco de Paula Téllez-Girón y Benavides, 6th Duke of Osuna since 1694, (Madrid, 11 March 1678 - Paris, 13 April 1716).
    • married in 1694, aged 16, Maria Remigia Fernández de Velasco y Tovar, (??? - ????), but there was not an adult male issue. It is reported that one daughter, María Dominga, was deprived of the Dukedom in benefit of her uncle, José María,(see below), because of fraud, (?)

He was a supporter of King Felipe V of Spain and plenipotentiary signor of the Treaty of Utrecht.

The other female issue, called María Lucía Téllez-Girón y Fernández de Velasco, (13 December 1698 - married 17 July 1727, aged 28, - ????), 8th Marquise of Berlanga, married 23 years old Francisco Javier Téllez-Girón y Alvarez de Toledo, 6th Duke of Uceda, (Madrid 16 February 1704 - 2 January 1750) having two females, María de la Portería, (born in Montalbán, Toledo, 26 January 1731) and Maria Vicenta (born Madrid, 28 Julio 1735).

Maria Vicenta would eventually marry aged 18, her close relative, (cousin?), Pedro Zoilo,also aged 18, (see below), 8th Duke of Osuna since the age of 5. Genetic interbreeding was thus taking place with probable consequences to be gauged later.

Therefore, the 7th Dukedom of Osuna was passed in 1716 to Francisco Maria de Paula cadet brother José María.

  • Don José María Téllez-Girón y Benavides , 7th Duke of Osuna since 1716, (1685 - 8 March 1733, aged 48), who had ** married in 1721Francisca Bibiana Pérez de Guzmán y Mendoza, (???? - 1748).

Therefore, the 8th Dukedom was hold by 1733 by the 5 years old inheritor Pedro Zoilo. A sister of Pedro Zoilo was Maria Faustina Téllez - Girón, (Madrid, 15 February 1724 - marries aged 14, on 20 February 1738 Francisco Pimentel y de Zuñiga, (1703 - marries 1738 - ???), 14th Count of Benavente.

  • Don Pedro Zoilo Téllez-Girón y Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno]], 8th Duke of Osuna since 1733, 7th Marquis of Peñafiel, 11th Count of Ureña, since 1733, Grandee of Spain, was made a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and of the Order of Carlos III, (27th June 1728 - 1st April 1787).
    • married, aged 25, 28th August 1753, 18 years old cousin María Vicenta Pacheco Téllez-Girón, (28th July 1735 - 1784?).

They were the parents of

  • Don Pedro de Álcantara Téllez-Girón y Pacheco, 9th Duke of Osuna since 1787, (8th August 1755 - 7 January 1807).
    • married 29 December 1771, aged 17, Doña María Josefa de la Soledad Alfonsa Pimentel , 9th Duchess Consort of Osuna, 15th Countess of Benavente, Grandee of Spain, 13th Duchess of Béjar, Duchess of Arcos, Duchess of Gandía and Duchess of Monteagudo, Princess of Esquilache and Marquise of Lombay, whose possessions and noble titles were absorbed thereto by the Osuna family, (1752 or 1754 - 5 October 1834) .

Besides the 10th Duke Francisco de Borja mentioned below as first male inheritor of the title, painted by Goya as a child they got also his eldest sister, Maria Joaquina TÉLLEZ-GIRON y PIMENTEL, condesa de Osilo, (21 September 1784 - 17 November 1851) who married in 1801, the person sometimes known as José Gabriel de BAZAN y SILVA-ALAGON Waldstein-Wartemberg, 10th, (11th?), marqués de Santa Cruz, (1782 - 1839).

  • Don Francisco de Borja Téllez-Girón y Pimentel, 10th Duke de Osuna since 1807, (6th October 1785 - deceased 21 May 1820), 14th Count de Ureña and many other titles and grandees of Spain
    • married 19th March 1802, at 17, 17th year old Doña Françoise Philippine Thomas de Beaufort-Spontin y Toledo, (Paris 7 Mar 1785 - 28 Jan 1830), who became thus 10th Duchess Consort of Osuna.

She was the eldest surviving daughter of the Count and Marquis Friedrich August Alex von Beaufort-Spontin,who became also circa 1782 Duke von Beaufort-Spontin (Namur 14 Sep 1751-Brussels 22 Apr 1817). Her father Friedrich had first married in Paris on the 5 January 1783 mother Doña Leopoldina de Toledo y Salm-Salm, (Madrid, 1760 - Brussels, 4 July 1792). First legal issue came about in 1810, (see below).

  • Don Pedro de Álcantara Téllez-Girón y Beaufort-Spontin, 11th Duke of Osuna since 1820 when he was aged 10, (1810 - 1844, aged 34), with the same christian name than his grand father, the 9th Duke. Died without issue. The title passed then to his brother: . In 1841 he became also 14th Duke of Infantado but thee years later, he died still single.
  • Don [[Mariano Téllez-Girón y Beaufort-Spontin, 12th Duke of Osuna]] since 1844 , 11th Duke del Infantado, only apparently during 1844, (Madrid, 19th July 1814 - Chateau de Beauraing, Belgium, 2nd June 1882).

He represented Spain in the crowning of Queen Victoria in England and in the marriage in 1853 of Spanish aristocrat Eugenia de Montijo to Napoleon III. He is reported by Spanish diplomat and notorious writer Juan Valera, later Spanish Ambassador in the U.S.A., to have spend with him, Embassy Officer, and his extravagant Russian friends, while Spanish Ambassador in Russia (1856 - 1862), incredible amounts of money in Saint Petersburg.

When Mariano died in 1882, aged 68, there were lawsuits from pretenders supposed to be closely connected to the family, as well as creditors racing many of the buildings, castles, lands,artworks, etc. Closer inspections around many of the accumulated nobility titles reveal to us that they are hold now by rather ambiguous persons (legally speaking about their supposed inheritance rights).

    • married in Wiesbaden, 4th April 1866, Doña Marie Eleonore zu Salm - Salm, née Princess zu Salm-Salm, (Hessen, Frankfurt am Mein, 31st January 1842 - Dülmen, 18 June 1891), who became thus 12th Duchess Consort of Osuna. She married again the Duc of Croy when Mariano died but there was not issue from both marriages.

Notice that the Salm-Salm family had entered already within the Osuna family through the Count, Marquis and Duke Friedrich, (deceased 1817), and first wife Leopoldina de Toledo y Salm-Salm, (deceased 1792), parents in law of the 10th Duke of Osuna.

  • Don Pedro de Àlcantara Téllez-Girón y Fernández de Santillán, only during 1855. 13th Duke of Osuna. With the same christian name than the 11th and the 9th Dukes of Osuna. Married with
    • Julia Fernanda de Dominé y Desmaisières. (??? - ???). There were lawsuits from pretenders to lands and titles connected to the family, as in 1844, with blockages from the Ministry of Justice.
  • Luis María Téllez-Girón y Fernández de Córdoba (1870-1909). Connected to the 9th Duke. 14th Duke of Osuna only in 1901. New lawsuits produced legal blockages on the inheritance of lands and extensive amounts of titles (over half a dozen grandees of Spain).
  • Mariano Téllez-Girón y Fernández de Córdoba (1887 - 1931?), brother of the 14th Duke. 15th Duke of Osuna. Only during 1909.
    • married to Petra Duque de Estrada y Moreno. They got a daughter, Angela, born in 1925,This title of Osuna looks like having been granted only for strict male succesion, but, it is reported however that
  • Angela Téllez-Girón y Duque de Estrada, was supposed to be 16th Duchess of Osuna in 1931 with only 6 years of age. There was a Civil War in Spain, too, in the period 1936 - 1939, when she was a teenager.